Caged Rebellion
by Blazing Rubellite
Summary: Deep in the dungeons, a wicked paradox traps two prisoners within its maze, cruelly robbed of hope and dying of despair...
1. Chapter 1

**As promised, we've written a Hunger Games fanfiction. Get out your noisemakers!**

**Aaand, it has slightly darker undertones!**

**Disclaimer: We don't own the Hunger Games. Sadly.  
**

The prisoner sat hunched in the corner of his cell. He had once been strong and alert, but now he was thin, blue eyes clouded, only a faint, mere shadow of the energetic creature he used to be. Cuts and bruises covered his body, and his clothes were hardly more than rags. _How long have I been here?_ he wondered dully. _Three, four weeks?_ The unexpected thump of a boot startled the prisoner out of his thoughts. He stiffened. Usually if the Peacekeepers came, you were about to receive a harsh beating. Resisting only made it all the more cruel. The steps headed toward the prisoner's cell, and his eyes flickered, shining with the faintest glint of curiosity, towards the door.

"We've brought you a friend," a deep voice growled. The prisoner relaxed. Switching cells was common. Large, rough hands shoved a man who was decorated with many more bruises and wounds than himself into the cell. Gashes covered the man's body, and his clothes were torn and ragged. Still, the prisoner mused. There was something familiar about him. He slowly crawled closer to the man. "Who are you?" he croaked with his dry voice, raspy from disuse. The man groaned as if the prisoner's voice had woken him from the inner slumber of his mind. He blinked and opened his eyes. They were green.

_Cinna,_ Peeta thought.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: We don't own The Hunger Games.**

**Sorry about not updating. Procrastinating ~**

**It's annoying, but very useful. Somebody has to do it.  
**

**

* * *

**

It was as if Peeta's voice had roused him. Cinna blinked open his eyes. He stared blearily at the other captive.

_Sort of like he's just woken up,_ Peeta thought. _Actually, I guess he has. _

"What are you doing here?" the stylist mumbled weakly.

A blink.

"I could ask the same of you."

They had never been on good terms, with the Hunger Games between them and the continuous danger that haunted Katniss. No time could be spared on idle chatter and open – hearted conversations. And now, they'd both sacrificed themselves for her. She was their common bond, Peeta thought with a trace of bitterness. She was the reason they were in this dump of a cell, rotting away. He shook the darkness off, knowing that it wasn't true, but feeling as if he needed someone to blame anyway. He jolted out of his thoughts, as he noticed that Cinna was about to speak. He'd sat up against a wall, and lifted his head.

"I'm doing this for Katniss. You know that." The stylist's voice was quiet, his green – gold irises suddenly intense, as if he'd forgotten the pain of his injuries. "We both are." Understanding flickered through Peeta's eyes. "She's the reason we're here, and she's the reason we have to get out." _Sounds like something I would say,_ Peeta thought. _How does Cinna stay sane? For Katniss?_ _He's been here longer than me, longer than Johanna._ _They've probably tortured him more…_

"How are you?" Peeta asked absent-mindedly, trying to distract himself from his conscious thoughts. Cinna smiled wryly. "How do you think I am?" He answered his own question, in a roundabout way. "I had a partner in my cell before who helped keep me sane. Madge. That girl from District Twelve, the mayor's daughter. You know her? She had the abilities of a psychologist. Anyway, she told me that she'd suffered worse. Told me that she'd heard Katniss was fine. I don't know why I believed her, considering that we've never met before." Here Cinna paused, a soft look spreading across his face. "But I did. So I'm okay. A bit battered, but otherwise fine." Surprise flickered in Peeta's eyes. How had Cinna guessed his thoughts so well?

Cinna, however, wasn't finished. "I helped her, too. She told me what the guards had done to her. Showed me the scars on her back," Cinna's eyes were distant now. "She was imprisoned for helping Katniss. Gave her the mockingjay badge that became the symbol of the rebellion." The stylist shook his head briefly. "Anyway, the guards decided she was too good for me, I guess. And I think that they were angrier as Katniss gained more public support. They took her away. I don't know what they've done to Madge after that."

Peeta felt a surge of jealousy at his friend's story. Was it because Cinna had found a friend or because he'd had someone to support him? Or perhaps both…

And now he supposed it was his turn to talk.


End file.
